26/8/17 - Guiding

The previous week I had a message from Tim Stratton, wanting to book a session for himself and three others with the aim of catching bass. A bit tricky to call the best location but I decided to take them to a channel near Holyhead where schoolies often congregate. While I couldn't guarantee any sizeable fish, I felt at this location they would be able to use the tactics that I would use 90% of the time for bass, and see them working.

I met Tim, Tom, Mike and Tony at the car park where we had a quick look at their gear to see what was suitable to use. Their rods ranged between light spinning rods to standard beach casting gear so all more than capable of doing the job here. I think its better that guests use as much of their own equipment as possible, as it gives confidence that they are able to head out on their own and still catch. To begin with I rigged everyone up with a simple pennel sliding ledger, using up to 3oz weights. Despite the current being initially quite strong, the plain weights bounced along nicely until settling in little dips in the sea bed. The thought being that in the clear shallow water, the fish would be working these depressions looking for their next meal. Baits were lug and rag, with a few crab and razor to see what works, and enough of each bait to last the four hours.

 All four of the guys had been fishing before so I was able to leave them to the casting, while I set about modifying a couple of rigs for later use. I wasn't expecting much action in daylight with conditions being so calm and bright but Tom was retrieving and there was a bit of splashing on the surface. Evidently he was into something so I dashed over with the camera. It was a small bass, maybe 1/2lb, the expected size but mission accomplished. Next cast Tom was in again with another schoolie, so I gradually moved everyone further down the beach to see if the fish were holding out of the main channel.

While never hectic, bites came steady throughout the evening with a slight lull at slack water. I swapped Tim onto a 2-hook flapper with long snoods to try a mix of baits at the same time and maybe pick up a bonus better fish. He had a small flatties early on but into the flood he had a bite and this was clearly a better fish. It went off downstream causing quite a splash in the shallows. I thought he had got a decent bass but as it came alongside me I could see it was a smoothound. A bit of a surprise this late in the year, and on lugworm as well. A quick photo and it was back in the water, lovely fish which really added the gloss on the session.

By now we were being pushed back by the rapidly flooding tide and soon to be calling it a day, but not before Mike managed a plaice, with Tony and Tim adding a dogfish each to the growing species tally. By the end the guys had 6 bass, 2 flatfish, 2 dogfish and the smoothound between them. A very good return and a great laugh with a great bunch of guys on an almost perfect evening. Hopefully this session will help them for when they are fishing on their own and they can get into some better fish.

22/08/17 - Mission Blonde

Been very busy lately so this is the first chance I've had to update the blog.

Last Friday, on the 19th myself and Paul had a crack at a tope on the north coast of Anglesey. It was fairly uninspiring, just a single dogfish for myself, but Paul managed a number of mackerel and pollack after I had left for work.

Tuesday just gone though, I set out on my now regular quest to a blonde ray. The plan being to fish over high on a big tide and he mark, and while the big rods were out I wouldn't want between float fish for pollack and feathering for mackerel.

The forecast was ideal, however on arriving at my fishing mark the swell was slightly larger than anticipated, most likely left over from the Atlantic storms. Pretty soon I had double sandeel baits in the water, all the while watching the swells closely as there was still 2 hours till high tide. I was moving my gear out of the spray hen one of the ratchets sang and there was a couple of pull downs. On lifting in I could feel a fish, and the little resistance it offered suggested that it was a small ray. Sure enough the obvious diamond shape emerged from the deep, but being small I imagined it to be a spotted ray. However on lifting it out I noticed the different pattern of spots on its back and identified it as a blonde ray. Only small, maybe 2lb in weight at most but what a relief, and around 2 years of hard work putting in the hours in the area.

Unfortunately at the time I wasn't able to enjoy the catch too much, with the ray back in the water my focus went back to concentrating on not getting wet. In fact I packed up for three quarters of an hour, waiting and watching the water to see how much higher it would rise. While the swell was splashing up onto the lower part of the ledge, I had a dry spot where the overhang deflected the swells back out to sea. Feeling confident that the water was not rising anymore, I slowly set up and continued fishing. As the tide ebbed away, so did the swells, and with it any fish action. I should have packed up sooner but with so much bait left I decided to use up what had already defrosted. Just pollack showed on the float, and even they were a bit finicky with the takes. Most were around 1/2lb but one better one was probably over 1lb, and have a good account of itself on the braid.

Now that I have finally managed to catch a blonde ray, next mission is to get a decent one in the 10lb+ kind of size. The rest of the week was spent planning and organising trip for a group of four clients on Saturday, details of which are coming up shortly.

Return to fishing teaching and guiding

12/08/17

With a camping and surfing trip to Abersoch with a few mates planned, I didn't have much hope of getting any fishing in. However. when one of the lads was keen and asked if I could bring a bit of gear down I figured it would be a good bit of practise for future tuition sessions.

I spied a decent looking mark online that might produce some mackerel and pollack, as one of the aims was to get a few for the BBQ. As is often the case there were slight time constraints, so after a bit of advice from Abersoch Angling, we opted to try Gimblet rock in Pwllheli. This offered a chance of mackerel, but we could fish in comfort, close to the car and cook on the beach as well.

With a heavy rod cast out looking for any bream or dogfish for a bit of variety, I set up some feathers on a spinning rod to get the guys used to casting. I give all of them a demonstration, talking through what I was doing, before handing them the rod and talking them through the cast. None of them had ever held a fishing rod before so I was having to think carefully how to explain things so it would make sense to them. Fortunately everything went without drama. They were all able to put the weight in the sea. The distance varied as they got used to timing the release of the line but for complete beginners it couldn't have been much better.

As we fished on it was clear there weren't many fish about. Crabs were hammering all of the larger baits being cast out, and I was slightly unprepared not bringing any pop up rigs. Gradually the light began to fade and baitfish activity started to increase. This usually means one thing, the mackerel are on the hunt! We missed a few opportunities, mainly as the guys were concentrating on getting the cast right but Joe managed to plop the feathers in the sea just as the baitfish broke the surface again. After a couple of turns on the retrieve there was a shout of excitement as a mackerel had taken one of the feathers.

Keeping a nice steady retrieve the fish was soon on the sand, only a small mackerel but it was a fish and a bonus it was for the bbq! As you can tell from his face, Joe was over the moon with it, and had the added satisfaction of being able to tuck into a fish he had just caught. They don't get much fresher than that and it tasted amazing!

I hoped we would be able to get a few more but it didn't happen, the shoal seemed to move further along the beach and out of our range. There was one more surprise in store though, as I was going through casting with Luke a small bass launched itself at the feathers not two metres out from where we were stood. After a quick photo it was released, being far too small to be kept for the bbq. That was the last of the fish action, the light faded completely and the mackerel went of the feed as well, but very satisfying to be able to get complete beginners to experience catching a fish at the first attempt.

15/8/17

Had a call mid day yesterday from guest, Amanda asking if I could fit in a lesson for her son Reece (aged 7), before they were due to leave later in the week. A quick dash back along the A55 via Pensarn bait and tackle for some quality ragworm, I threw the gear in the car at met them at Holyhead Breakwater. It wasn't an ideal time with the tide dropping, but Reece was super keen to do as much as possible I was hoping we would still get a few bites. I dropped the first rod down the side as a demonstration, and set up a second for Reece to use much by himself.

With a bit of guidance, and supervision from Mum, he was able to swing the baits out just away from the wall. It wasn't long before a shake of the rod tip indicated a bite, and up the wall came a corkwing wrasse, resulting in big smiles all round! He was able to add a second wrasse before bites dried up so we filled the time discussing which sea creatures would win if they were fighting each other, and doing a little overhead casting practise. Overall a great way to spend a couple of hours and thank you to Amanda for the positive feedback on the session.

16/8/17

Having some ragworm left over from the previous days lesson I had a couple of hours scratching around off the ledges at the back of my work place near Penmon. Bites came steady, but never frantic and in a couple of hours I managed a mix of shannies, ballan wrasse, corkwing wrasse and the smallest pollack I've ever seen. Most of the fish were small but two of the better ballans were pushing towards 1lb. Not a bad way to finish off a pack of rag. Gear was the usual 2-hook flapper with size 6/8 hooks keeping things tight to the rock ledges. I hoped to get a few mackerel out as well but a shoal had appeared and passed through before I had chance to get the feathers rigged up.

Frustratingly the weather is playing havoc with plans at the moment, a session after tope Thursday night has been postponed. Hopefully will have a chance and find some shelter during a couple of hours tomorrow morning before work.

8/8/17 - If Carlsberg did session savers...

After an unsuccessful little mission Monday night with the lures I headed out with the heavy gear in search of a so far elusive Anglesey blonde ray. I was optimistic about getting a fairly decent session, with the tides a similar height and time as a couple of weeks ago when I landed 4 small rays. In fact, with the cloud hanging round I thought my chances would be even better this day.

As usual it was up and over, and pulley rigs the main plan of attack, and I took a spinning rod to try a few different things with. First casts on the bait were quiet so I gave them about 45 minutes before retrieving. Even though there was no indication of a bite, one felt a little heavy and I was hopeful of a small ray. Unfortunately it wasn't, the fish popped up on the surface far out, a sure sign of a doggie though I've done well to avoid them for nearly a couple of months now. 

With the heavy rods remaining very quiet I rigged up the float on my spinning rod to see if there was any pollack or mackerel around. I was targeting the pollack letting the float drift mid-water around the rocky ledges, and from past experience mackerel can be caught near the bottom in bright daylight. Casting the float away for the ledges didn't bring any luck so I concentrated on fishing close in. Very quickly I was into a nice pollack, the best of the day at about 1.5lb but it appears this one was related to Harry Houdini. I thought it was safe on the rocks until, as I went to get the camera it managed to throw the hook, side down the rock face, down a crevice and out the bottom, landing in a rockpool before making its way out to sea!

Fortunately I need not have worried about the missed photo opportunity, as throughout the session the pollack fed at a steady pace. The best action seeming to be after high tide as the change in currents helped to push the float near and around some submerged kelp beds.

For an hour or so I put the float rod down for a short while, fishing hard with the heavy rods during the time I'd been told would be best for a blonde ray. I saw a couple of bites, and had a couple of mashed baits, but with no hook up or big pull downs I put the rattles down to crabs or small dabs pulling at the sandeels but not being able to swallow them. I picked up the float rod again, content with the bit of sport the pollack were providing, casting close in to the ledges. Not a rod length out the float disappeared again. This time it was clearly a better fish, stronger thumps and a longer first run had me frantically adjusting the drag to make sure the fish could take line if it bolted again.

The fish made for a kelp lined gully, so I had a scramble around the rocks to get myself in a better position to land in. I could see a dark back and convinced myself it was a decent pollack so took my time making sure the fish wasn't going to steam off again. It was near the surface a couple of times before diving back down but only the last time it popped up did I realise it was actually a bass, and a decent one as well. Taking extra care, and using the swell to land it rather than lifting it out the fish was plonked at my feet. Easily my biggest bait caught bass of the year, and the most unexpected; definitely the best session saver I could have hoped for. A couple of photos and like them all it was back in the water, didn't take any measurements but I put it in the 3-4lb size, compared with the ones I've had earlier in the year.

After the excitement of the bass a decent ray would be the icing on the cake. However the longer I went without a bite the less hope I had. After getting a few more pollack on the float I decided that it wasn't my day for the rays and retrieved the heavy rods. There was a bit of weight on one and as it came closer I saw a gurnard had taken a fancy to the double sandeel, and it was a nice sized one, bigger than the ones I had last year anyway! Still not what I was after but another welcome bonus. 

I was off the rocks and a quick refresh before heading out for my planned evening session. Target was tope again from the beach. As well as frozen mackerel I took a couple of pollack from earlier in the day for fresh bait. First casts were made as the sun went down and although there was a bit of swell I was confident there would be tope passing through. Sadly, it wasn't to be. I had one bite almost right on high tide which took some line and a single pull down of the rod but whatever it was didn't come back. I put it down to dogfish, but if doggies were present I'd have expected a few more bites from them. I'll never know, but the mystery is what drives me to keep trying these places. If you've enjoyed the post and would like notifying of the next update, its free to subscribe with the button at the top right of the page. Cheers!

4/8/17

Last Friday I had a few daylight hours spare, but the weather forecast made choosing a productive mark a bit tricky. In the end I decided on heading to the north of the island to try and get out of the worst of the wind. This particular mark has fished well for me in the past at night, so would be interesting what would turn up in daylight.

With it being a relatively short session, fishing 3 hours down to low, and being a fairly long walk from the car I went for a slightly lighter approach, taking a spinning rod for some lures, float and feathering, and one heavy rod to fish big baits for possible tope or huss perhaps. Despite the strong current I was able to keep the terminal gear away from the snags, save for a couple of feathers. 

Yet again as I've found recently was a lack of mackerel. Fortunately a few pollack were obliging, though mostly small they were ideal fresh bait, as I've often heard tope have a particular taste for them. I also managed a solitary launce, or greater sandeel, on the feathers which unbelievably is the first one I've ever caught. Sensing a chance for a bigger pollack I fished the launce live under a float, letting it drift around. It had plenty of energy left, but it seemed the bigger pollack weren't around.

Acton on the heavy rod was much harder to come by. I had two bites all session, both were pretty good pull downs mind, but both times the fish dropped the bait. Interestingly both bites came to a fresh pollack bait, frozen mackerel not getting a sniff. 

Will be exploring this area much more in future. So much potential, and I've rarely seen anyone even out for a walk, never mind fishing. I feel starting light is the way to go, cover more ground and find the productive ledges, before bringing the heavy gear along.

01/08/17 - Going for Gold

Yesterday I made a plan to have two short sessions, the main one would be to target an elusive North Wales gilthead bream, a species distinguished by a gold band running between its eyes. They have become increasingly common around the South and South West coasts of England and Wales, and slowly they seem to be visiting us as far North on Anglesey. There has been a fair few reports of them popping up around the Island, and with reliable information I headed to a mark where one had been caught earlier in the year.

The wind was quite strong, but on my back, meaning I could chuck a 2-hook flapper a reasonable distance with the spinning rod. After reading the fish baits weren't as preferable, I took some frozen crab and dug a few lugworm at the mark, using size 2 hooks I would also pick up anything else that would be feeling hungry.

Not completely confident in the conditions the first bite took me a bit by surprise. I lifted in after a series of short rattles and there was a fish on! It wasn't big, but I had a hope that it would be my target for the day. Sadly it wasn't, it was a tiny fingerling bass about 6 inch long. After a photo and bit of surgery to remove the deep hook it was back in the water to hopefully become that magical double figure fish. 

Another tiny schoolie later and I decided to move to try and locate a bream without fishing through the entire shoal. Unfortunately this second spot didn't fill me with confidence either, the water was shallow and clear, with the only sign of life being what looked like a mackerel leaping out of the water a couple of times. I moved back to the first spot and it was clear the schoolie bass were still around, missing a couple of bites before landing another.

A short drive later I was at mark 2 for the day. I fish this area quite a lot, mostly heavy ledgering for big fish. This time light ledgering crab and spinning in the gulleys was the order of the day, having been told that with a bit of white water pushing around the rocks, wrasse, bass and pollack would be lurking, waiting for an easy meal. I threw everything out there but it wasn't my day, instead of the water pushing through gently it was more like a washing machine. A tompot blenny managed to wriggle onto a big 2/0 hook, I had another missed bite on the crab and a couple of light taps on an IMA Narbarone diving plug, which I put down to small pollack.

Certainly not the results I was hoping for but can see the potential for both marks, an I have a good idea what to do differently next time to improve my chances. Looking at another session Friday, still tricky to decide on location with the unpredictable weather.